38 thoughts on “C-19 Chat Post – November 19 2021”
Thanks TK.
The entire country of Austria has now decided to go into lockdown for 3 weeks. So not just the Salzburg region, as was reported yesterday. This lockdown would apply to all – both vaccinated and unvaccinated. Also, Austria will become the first European country to require vaccinations of all of its adult citizens.
Travel between European countries is being hampered as countries impose additional restrictions. These are not just proofs of negative tests or vaccinations. In some cases – Norway – all visitors must register with the authorities upon arrival; a passenger locator system of sorts.
This is the latest from the Massachusetts covid dashboard: 3,196 new cases reported yesterday, the highest total since last February!!!
I thought Baker was fantastic in the early stages of the pandemic. Wonderful! Then I don’t know what happened, but he turned into a trump republican. I HOPE it has nothing
to do with his political aspirations.
Baker has been on the record saying he won’t go back to where we were a year ago with the restrictions. He’s leaving it up to the individual communities. Right or wrong, that appears to be his stance.
We all have our thoughts on that. Personally, I think he is wrong.
I admit I haven’t followed this issue more closely, but what would you have him do? Are other (blue) states doing more? What is CA doing? What is NY doing?
I would have liked him to issue a statewide mask mandate for any and all indoor locations, most especially schools. I would like a less cavalier attitude about this pandemic and stop acting like it is all over.
Just saw this. He is a fool if he thinks the majority will make the decision that is best for all……proof , as they say, is I the pudding.
Basically, he has stepped away from the oath he took
Thanks, JPD.
It ain’t good.
Man, am I hoping boosters will ultimately end this.
Right now, however, what we’re doing may be best encapsulated by a Dutch idiomatic expression: “Mopping the floor with the tap wide open.” I’m literally translating. It means trying to tackle a problem when multiple problems are coming in faster then you can solve them.
Dutch idioms – and most idiomatic expressions in Germanic languages – are often easy to understand but hard to translate concisely.
Sound more like
Shoveling Shit Against the Tide
OR
Pissing into the wind.
They all mean the same thing. 🙂
I’m baffled by CVS’s decision to get rid of 10% of stores in the beginning of an overhaul of the business. Every CVS I’ve ever been in is almost always packed with customers. I guess the CEOs want even higher profit margins and millions/billions more for themselves, which they can accomplish by shedding staff and store spaces. There’s something insidious about this, especially when I read the business/investor-directed reports on this news item. One of the reports said that “everyone now buys everything from CVS online.” Huh? I’m sure the online business has grown. But, one wonders whether the folks writing these pieces have ever been in a CVS. Maybe their shopping experiences are all conducted online. I know that mine are not. I hate online shopping. I do it when I absolutely have to. But, to me it’s like entering a library without stacks of books, and ordering a book from the library clerk. This concept does exist, by the way, but I find it extremely unappealing and it runs counter to the whole idea of browsing (physically, not virtually).
Hmmmm interesting. Corporate GREED will be the death of us.
btw, I do not share your opinion of online shopping.
I rather like it “most” of the time, but with certain items, most especially clothing, one has to be extremely careful.
The CVS in my town is a mess. I HATE going in there unless I absolutely have to. Incompetent pharmacy and general customer service is bad. I know people who have worked for CVS corporate and it is a poorly run organization. That said, I think its good they are reducing the number of stores. Its like Dunkin Donuts on every corner, not all Dunks are created equal. They can improve the brand by consolidating.
On this, I agree 100%. Some are clearly MUCH better than others.
Some stores are simply DUMPS while others are
immaculate. Go figure.
I agree Ace. I said yesterday that whatever reason they give, the real reason is incompetence.
Good to hear from you Vicki. I was starting to wonder. You’re usually the first to comment here. 🙂
Absolutely disgraceful that CVS is pulling the plug right in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, no less. Other than my Covid and tetanus shots (BWH), that’s where I received my flu and shingles shots as well as my prescriptions. Will Walgreen’s and others follow suit?
These “boosters” are all well and good, but these pharmaceuticals who are manufacturing the vaccines need to address the fact that there are a minority of people who adversely react to 2nd/3rd shots. It’s one thing to have a mild reaction that only requires a couple of Tylenol but one shouldn’t have to suffer that it brings on actual sickness like it has for some here, most recently Joshua.
My hope is that vaccines will be developed with no more than mild symptoms that will still allow normal activity for most everyone.
I’m not sure it is the minority for reactions such as Joshua’s or mine or SClarke or JPDs daughter. But I did think it was well advertised that there might be a limited time reaction such as Those. Same with the shingrex.
I absolutely agree that they are not addressing the more serious problem of myocarditis and pericarditis.
I feel beyond rant stage right now. I feel sick to my stomach and horribly discouraged
School positives for the week of 11/11 through 11/17 are gut wrenching. These are our children….the ones our schools are supposed to protect. There were 3,257 children and 558 staff positives just last week. If that doesn’t horrify folks, then I just don’t know what will. The majority (not all) are our younger children in the lower grades and completely unprotected.
Out of the 3,257 children (I didn’t add staff into these numbers) the positives in school districts that were 10+ rose from 87 last week to 118 this week. Of those (not in addition to those) there were 66 districts with 15+ and 42 districts with 20+. One district had 99 students.
Keep in mind that remote is not permitted by DESE without special permission; and even with permission, it doesn’t span the required quarantine period so some of the time must be made up. In addition what is considered remote is half baked.
The plan was to have full in-school so as to NOT disrupt our children. How exactly is watching friends and teachers test positive to something our children – no matter how young – know is serious not disruptive? How is scrambling to find a teacher or bus driver or staff member or school nurse because of both overwork and illness not disruptive? How Is being sent home with a packet of work and no guidance not disruptive?
If we were to go to zero cases tomorrow, it would be too late. What lasting symptoms do these children have? Who did they infect who may be seriously ill or who infected others? We knew there would be positives in schools. We saw this coming well in advance. There were VERY obvious steps that could have been taken that would have kept the numbers lower. And still…..nothing is being done.
Three charts are below. One shows covid positives from December 2020 to present. In 10 weeks of this school year, we have surpassed the number in 35 weeks the last part of school year 2020/2021. The other two show just this school year and a graph of all numbers.
Germany is now considering a possible full lockdown. I think Belgium and the Netherlands may do so as well, though not as strict as Austria or Germany.
On CVS pharmacies, I don’t love them and agree that some are a mess, as Ace said. However, I do like my very small local CVS (and much prefer to get my shots there than my physician’s office – I’ve never liked physician’s or dentist offices), and I’m afraid it will be one of the ones to go. Similarly, when Starbucks consolidated it got rid of a small – probably the smallest Starbucks with seating in America – in my neighborhood.
I hope they don’t close the CVS on 587 Boylston St. in Copley Square. My PCP and other doctors have them on file for my prescriptions.
CVS reminds me of the old F.W. Woolworth’s. They are on practically every corner and have just about any product you need.
Those here of a certain age should remember those stores. They closed for good in 1997.
I have fond memories of a particular CVS. In was located in the Westborough Data General office building that I worked at in the late 1980’s. There was something very satisfying about being able to pick up something there. They gave a discount to all Data General employees that applied to everything including film developing (remember that?), sale items, and when using a coupon. It was small, crowded at lunch time, friendly, and a great benefit.
Data General. Wow! Does that bring back memories.
We used to purchase their Mini Computers back in the 70s and 80s. Ah the Eclipse and MV series computers.
I have been to that facility.
Visionaries at our company saw that PCs were the wave of the future. I think Data General did not envision the future and missed the boat. Too bad as they had a really fine product.
I only worked there for two years and by the end it was clearly time to get out before all the wheels fell off. But it was a great two years. I worked on a software suite called Comprehensive Electronic Office (CEO). It was way ahead with integrated email, word processing, spreadsheets, graphics and so on. It was always a blast seeing Tom West or Edson de Castro wandering through the halls!
Have you read “The Soul of a New Machine?”
I have heard of it and may have seen a copy, but no, I have not read it. (If i did, I don’t remember. Getting too old 🙂 )
I never met Mr. De Castro, only one of his esteemed sales persons, for the life of me I cannot remember his name. I have reached out to someone to see if they can recall his name. It would be a hoot if you knew this guy. I used to deal with him all of the time, but It was ugly the way I ended up leaving the Company, so I made an effort
to forget about as much of that place as I could.
As the person I reached out to messaged me, before i Opened the message, the name came to me. Incredible, but it did.
His name was Peter Stone and I do believe he was one of, if not the top Data General Sales Person.
Did you know him?
Thanks
No, I don’t recall that name. It was a big place at one time. When I started in April of 1988, you had to get there early or park in the overflow lot. When I left in December of 1990, you could always park right by the door!
That company went down hill in a hurry. So sad.
Today’s U.S. data:
– New cases: 121,894 (biggest 1 day increase in 7 weeks)
– 7-day moving average: 92,842
– In hospital: 49,167 (+878)
– In ICU: 12,097 (+183)
– New deaths: 1,932
Testing has actually decreased slightly this week compared to last. Go figure.
All I can say is boost, baby, boost. We’ve done a reasonable job at boosting seniors and those at-risk. But, it’s still only 36% of seniors and about the same percentage of at-risk. The UK’s numbers of boosters in these groups are higher (could explain their more gradual increase in cases). Across the EU, mass boosting has begun in earnest. Some countries had higher booster rates than the U.S. already, while others were lower.
Should be noted that Israel has recorded 4 days of 0 deaths this week, which is great news! Their boosting campaign began 3 months ago and was universal from the start, basically. It does appear to work.
It should also be noted that Israel has NOT yet vaccinated a single 5 to 11 year old. They will begin to do so next week, but that has not been their priority.
Very interesting. And follows what you have been advocating in this country
Israeli public health officials raised the alarm about waning vaccine immunity back in May, and then again in June and July. Many in the U.S. ignored warnings that the vaccine efficacy was dropping below 60% (this was Israel’s estimate in early July). And now Israeli officials say the efficacy after 4 months can drop to as low as 25%. At the same time, they reiterated that effectiveness against severe disease remained solid, though it too was declining: From 98% to 94% to 88% to 84% (respective estimates as months progress). So, they devised a universal – well, for adults – booster scheme that would begin in August and is still underway (can’t get a booster until 6 months after last shot). They’ve boosted 45% of the entire adult population, and 90% of seniors. We’re at 6% or so of the whole adult population; about 36% of seniors. Cases in Israel have not only plunged, they’re only in the double digits on many days and still dropping. Deaths are very low.
I remember posting tweets here last July re efficacy diminishing. I’d mention to friends who smiled and nodded. We have eluded to this. Yet six months later we rarely come out and use plain English to emphasize the facts
Israel also said over a month ago boosters/third vaccine should be six to even eight months after the last. Faust from MGH Brigham often echoed its views
C-19 for 11-20 is ready.
Comments are closed.
Your no-hype southeastern New England weather blog!
Thanks TK.
The entire country of Austria has now decided to go into lockdown for 3 weeks. So not just the Salzburg region, as was reported yesterday. This lockdown would apply to all – both vaccinated and unvaccinated. Also, Austria will become the first European country to require vaccinations of all of its adult citizens.
Travel between European countries is being hampered as countries impose additional restrictions. These are not just proofs of negative tests or vaccinations. In some cases – Norway – all visitors must register with the authorities upon arrival; a passenger locator system of sorts.
This is the latest from the Massachusetts covid dashboard:
3,196 new cases reported yesterday, the highest total since last February!!!
https://ibb.co/Kx339gZ
Here is a link to the dashboard for anyone interested:
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/covid-19-response-reporting#covid-19-interactive-data-dashboard-
Thanks JPD. Where the hell is Baker.
I lost respect for Baker long ago.
I thought Baker was fantastic in the early stages of the pandemic. Wonderful! Then I don’t know what happened, but he turned into a trump republican. I HOPE it has nothing
to do with his political aspirations.
Baker has been on the record saying he won’t go back to where we were a year ago with the restrictions. He’s leaving it up to the individual communities. Right or wrong, that appears to be his stance.
We all have our thoughts on that. Personally, I think he is wrong.
I admit I haven’t followed this issue more closely, but what would you have him do? Are other (blue) states doing more? What is CA doing? What is NY doing?
I would have liked him to issue a statewide mask mandate for any and all indoor locations, most especially schools. I would like a less cavalier attitude about this pandemic and stop acting like it is all over.
Just saw this. He is a fool if he thinks the majority will make the decision that is best for all……proof , as they say, is I the pudding.
Basically, he has stepped away from the oath he took
Thanks, JPD.
It ain’t good.
Man, am I hoping boosters will ultimately end this.
Right now, however, what we’re doing may be best encapsulated by a Dutch idiomatic expression: “Mopping the floor with the tap wide open.” I’m literally translating. It means trying to tackle a problem when multiple problems are coming in faster then you can solve them.
Dutch idioms – and most idiomatic expressions in Germanic languages – are often easy to understand but hard to translate concisely.
Sound more like
Shoveling Shit Against the Tide
OR
Pissing into the wind.
They all mean the same thing. 🙂
I’m baffled by CVS’s decision to get rid of 10% of stores in the beginning of an overhaul of the business. Every CVS I’ve ever been in is almost always packed with customers. I guess the CEOs want even higher profit margins and millions/billions more for themselves, which they can accomplish by shedding staff and store spaces. There’s something insidious about this, especially when I read the business/investor-directed reports on this news item. One of the reports said that “everyone now buys everything from CVS online.” Huh? I’m sure the online business has grown. But, one wonders whether the folks writing these pieces have ever been in a CVS. Maybe their shopping experiences are all conducted online. I know that mine are not. I hate online shopping. I do it when I absolutely have to. But, to me it’s like entering a library without stacks of books, and ordering a book from the library clerk. This concept does exist, by the way, but I find it extremely unappealing and it runs counter to the whole idea of browsing (physically, not virtually).
Hmmmm interesting. Corporate GREED will be the death of us.
btw, I do not share your opinion of online shopping.
I rather like it “most” of the time, but with certain items, most especially clothing, one has to be extremely careful.
The CVS in my town is a mess. I HATE going in there unless I absolutely have to. Incompetent pharmacy and general customer service is bad. I know people who have worked for CVS corporate and it is a poorly run organization. That said, I think its good they are reducing the number of stores. Its like Dunkin Donuts on every corner, not all Dunks are created equal. They can improve the brand by consolidating.
On this, I agree 100%. Some are clearly MUCH better than others.
Some stores are simply DUMPS while others are
immaculate. Go figure.
I agree Ace. I said yesterday that whatever reason they give, the real reason is incompetence.
Good to hear from you Vicki. I was starting to wonder. You’re usually the first to comment here. 🙂
Absolutely disgraceful that CVS is pulling the plug right in the middle of a worldwide pandemic, no less. Other than my Covid and tetanus shots (BWH), that’s where I received my flu and shingles shots as well as my prescriptions. Will Walgreen’s and others follow suit?
These “boosters” are all well and good, but these pharmaceuticals who are manufacturing the vaccines need to address the fact that there are a minority of people who adversely react to 2nd/3rd shots. It’s one thing to have a mild reaction that only requires a couple of Tylenol but one shouldn’t have to suffer that it brings on actual sickness like it has for some here, most recently Joshua.
My hope is that vaccines will be developed with no more than mild symptoms that will still allow normal activity for most everyone.
I’m not sure it is the minority for reactions such as Joshua’s or mine or SClarke or JPDs daughter. But I did think it was well advertised that there might be a limited time reaction such as Those. Same with the shingrex.
I absolutely agree that they are not addressing the more serious problem of myocarditis and pericarditis.
I feel beyond rant stage right now. I feel sick to my stomach and horribly discouraged
School positives for the week of 11/11 through 11/17 are gut wrenching. These are our children….the ones our schools are supposed to protect. There were 3,257 children and 558 staff positives just last week. If that doesn’t horrify folks, then I just don’t know what will. The majority (not all) are our younger children in the lower grades and completely unprotected.
Out of the 3,257 children (I didn’t add staff into these numbers) the positives in school districts that were 10+ rose from 87 last week to 118 this week. Of those (not in addition to those) there were 66 districts with 15+ and 42 districts with 20+. One district had 99 students.
Keep in mind that remote is not permitted by DESE without special permission; and even with permission, it doesn’t span the required quarantine period so some of the time must be made up. In addition what is considered remote is half baked.
The plan was to have full in-school so as to NOT disrupt our children. How exactly is watching friends and teachers test positive to something our children – no matter how young – know is serious not disruptive? How is scrambling to find a teacher or bus driver or staff member or school nurse because of both overwork and illness not disruptive? How Is being sent home with a packet of work and no guidance not disruptive?
If we were to go to zero cases tomorrow, it would be too late. What lasting symptoms do these children have? Who did they infect who may be seriously ill or who infected others? We knew there would be positives in schools. We saw this coming well in advance. There were VERY obvious steps that could have been taken that would have kept the numbers lower. And still…..nothing is being done.
Three charts are below. One shows covid positives from December 2020 to present. In 10 weeks of this school year, we have surpassed the number in 35 weeks the last part of school year 2020/2021. The other two show just this school year and a graph of all numbers.
https://imgur.com/a/4Vzf5Z8
Germany is now considering a possible full lockdown. I think Belgium and the Netherlands may do so as well, though not as strict as Austria or Germany.
On CVS pharmacies, I don’t love them and agree that some are a mess, as Ace said. However, I do like my very small local CVS (and much prefer to get my shots there than my physician’s office – I’ve never liked physician’s or dentist offices), and I’m afraid it will be one of the ones to go. Similarly, when Starbucks consolidated it got rid of a small – probably the smallest Starbucks with seating in America – in my neighborhood.
I hope they don’t close the CVS on 587 Boylston St. in Copley Square. My PCP and other doctors have them on file for my prescriptions.
CVS reminds me of the old F.W. Woolworth’s. They are on practically every corner and have just about any product you need.
Those here of a certain age should remember those stores. They closed for good in 1997.
I have fond memories of a particular CVS. In was located in the Westborough Data General office building that I worked at in the late 1980’s. There was something very satisfying about being able to pick up something there. They gave a discount to all Data General employees that applied to everything including film developing (remember that?), sale items, and when using a coupon. It was small, crowded at lunch time, friendly, and a great benefit.
Data General. Wow! Does that bring back memories.
We used to purchase their Mini Computers back in the 70s and 80s. Ah the Eclipse and MV series computers.
I have been to that facility.
Visionaries at our company saw that PCs were the wave of the future. I think Data General did not envision the future and missed the boat. Too bad as they had a really fine product.
I only worked there for two years and by the end it was clearly time to get out before all the wheels fell off. But it was a great two years. I worked on a software suite called Comprehensive Electronic Office (CEO). It was way ahead with integrated email, word processing, spreadsheets, graphics and so on. It was always a blast seeing Tom West or Edson de Castro wandering through the halls!
Have you read “The Soul of a New Machine?”
I have heard of it and may have seen a copy, but no, I have not read it. (If i did, I don’t remember. Getting too old 🙂 )
I never met Mr. De Castro, only one of his esteemed sales persons, for the life of me I cannot remember his name. I have reached out to someone to see if they can recall his name. It would be a hoot if you knew this guy. I used to deal with him all of the time, but It was ugly the way I ended up leaving the Company, so I made an effort
to forget about as much of that place as I could.
As the person I reached out to messaged me, before i Opened the message, the name came to me. Incredible, but it did.
His name was Peter Stone and I do believe he was one of, if not the top Data General Sales Person.
Did you know him?
Thanks
No, I don’t recall that name. It was a big place at one time. When I started in April of 1988, you had to get there early or park in the overflow lot. When I left in December of 1990, you could always park right by the door!
That company went down hill in a hurry. So sad.
Today’s U.S. data:
– New cases: 121,894 (biggest 1 day increase in 7 weeks)
– 7-day moving average: 92,842
– In hospital: 49,167 (+878)
– In ICU: 12,097 (+183)
– New deaths: 1,932
Testing has actually decreased slightly this week compared to last. Go figure.
All I can say is boost, baby, boost. We’ve done a reasonable job at boosting seniors and those at-risk. But, it’s still only 36% of seniors and about the same percentage of at-risk. The UK’s numbers of boosters in these groups are higher (could explain their more gradual increase in cases). Across the EU, mass boosting has begun in earnest. Some countries had higher booster rates than the U.S. already, while others were lower.
Should be noted that Israel has recorded 4 days of 0 deaths this week, which is great news! Their boosting campaign began 3 months ago and was universal from the start, basically. It does appear to work.
It should also be noted that Israel has NOT yet vaccinated a single 5 to 11 year old. They will begin to do so next week, but that has not been their priority.
Very interesting. And follows what you have been advocating in this country
Israeli public health officials raised the alarm about waning vaccine immunity back in May, and then again in June and July. Many in the U.S. ignored warnings that the vaccine efficacy was dropping below 60% (this was Israel’s estimate in early July). And now Israeli officials say the efficacy after 4 months can drop to as low as 25%. At the same time, they reiterated that effectiveness against severe disease remained solid, though it too was declining: From 98% to 94% to 88% to 84% (respective estimates as months progress). So, they devised a universal – well, for adults – booster scheme that would begin in August and is still underway (can’t get a booster until 6 months after last shot). They’ve boosted 45% of the entire adult population, and 90% of seniors. We’re at 6% or so of the whole adult population; about 36% of seniors. Cases in Israel have not only plunged, they’re only in the double digits on many days and still dropping. Deaths are very low.
I remember posting tweets here last July re efficacy diminishing. I’d mention to friends who smiled and nodded. We have eluded to this. Yet six months later we rarely come out and use plain English to emphasize the facts
Israel also said over a month ago boosters/third vaccine should be six to even eight months after the last. Faust from MGH Brigham often echoed its views
C-19 for 11-20 is ready.